Fragments Of A Whole : A World Of Hurt
by Sukeeta Fallstar
Summary: One-shot Syuki had been through a lot in her relatively short existence. She'd always hoped that one day she'd get the chance to meet the famous Kenpachi Zaraki. This wasn't quite what she had in mind though.


**Authors Note: This snippet is inspired by some goings on in a RPG I'm currently playing. I'm nearing the end of the chronicle so I thought it might make good material for some short Bleach-based stories.**

**Disclaimer:Noriaki "Tite" Kubo is the mastermind behind Bleach. I own no rights to recognisable characters.**

_Where am I? What's happened to me? I can't see anything. I can hear nothing but the roar of silence in my ears. I can't even feel the ground I'm lying on._

_But I can feel my body…I can feel my body all too well. Except I can't move. Every inch of me is screaming in pain but I'm too weak to even twitch. What happened to me? _

Breath, bitch, breath. Calm the fuck down. You're alive ain't ya? If ya can feel pain, then ya must be alive, and so long as your alive, there's hope right?

_Right. _Now breath, take the pain into yourself and master it. You must master it. If ya don't, then we die…

_We? Who's we? Has the pain driven me mad? It hurts…._

Focus Mistress. If ya don't focus then we all end here and the Child of the Moon shall be doomed.

Come on Syuki, you can pull through this. I know you can!

_All of us?_

_Child of the Moon?_

_Syuki?_

_That's me…_

With that revelation, memories flooded through Syuki's mind as though a dam had burst. Memories of pain, both physical and emotion, hope and joy, sadness and betrayal and dreams, most of which she had abandoned or still clung in a final desperation and everything in between poured in to the pain racked shell that was here body. Faces swam before her eyes, the first things she had seen since waking. Some were hazy and out of focus, while others were so clear they could have been leaning over her. Some filled her with happiness, others with terror, and many with a bitter sweet feeling of loss. As the torrent slowed, she could put names to them and with the names, the memories started to settle into a coherent stream of events.

Syuki was a shinigami…no. That wasn't right. That had been stolen from her by some bastard. She was a Visored now, forced to exist in the Human world because of her nature. Hated by Soul Reapers and Hollows alike, the Human world was her only choice. But she no longer skulked around, alone. She had allies, some of whom she had even started to hope she might call friends…Gatsu, Arcon, Lu Fang and Connar, Preacher, Swift and Moon…no. Swift was dead, slain by her own hand, condemned to death by that Vasto Lorde known as Reaper. And Moon…Moon was in grave danger. Moon needed her. Now.

She sat bolt upright with this realisation, for it filled her with such a sense of duty and resolve that she forgot about the pain of before. She could see again. Not that there was much to see. She floated in a black void, spotted with twinkling stars and distant planets. The odd shooting star could be seen, streaking across the heavens. Her inner world looked the same as it always had. She turned her focus on the two figures standing in front of her. Neither one had what you would consider a normal appearance. The one on the right would look normal at a distance, but up close you could see that the fur, tail and ears were not part of an outfit, but was her true form. Her hands and feet had claws and when she spoke it was impossible to miss the impressive fangs her full lips hid. Her chest was quite impressive too. Her eyes were those of a tiger and not those of a human. Ten No Tora was the spirit of Syuki's zanpaktou, a being born of her spirit and a welcome, familiar face. The figure on the right was something different. She was the perfect double of Syuki, except she looked as though she was a photo negative brought to life, all white and black. And the eyes…they were jet black pits with red irises that seemed to burn into Syuki with a strange, palpable hunger. This one had no name yet, for Syuki had not thought to ask its name. This one had no name for Syuki had not given it one. It was the Hollow that resided within, ever hungry to break free from Syuki's control and run rampant, doing whatever she wished.

'Good ta see you've not given up the fight yet, Mistress' the Hollow sneered in its usual manner.

Ten No Tora grinned a very predatory grin. 'I knew you'd do it. Although, if we want to survive this one, you're gonna have to do better then that.'

'For once I agree with fur ball' said the Hollow, earning an irritated look from Ten. 'That's more like a force of nature then a man. And what's with that pink midget?'

Syuki just shrugged. There was something nagging at her brain about those two, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Ten looked between the Hollow and Syuki. She fixed Syuki with a slightly incredulous look. 'Come on Sy, I know you're not that dense. Or maybe you hit your head harder then I thought. Granted, the chances of running into them were like a million to one, but then with the sort of bad luck we've been having recently, I suppose it fits.'

The Hollow just stared at Ten. Syuki sat and thought for a few moments. Force of nature. Pink midget. A bell wearing, one-eyed mountain of a man with spiked hair… A few moments was all it took for the horrid truth to hit her. 'It's fucking Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru! And I attacked him!' She growled and put her head in her hands. Now she knew why her instincts had screamed at her not to interfere, to just run away. Why hadn't she used her ability to sense an opponent's spiritual pressure before jumping straight in.?

The Hollow still looked a bit confused. She knew who Zaraki was because she had access to Syuki's memories. She knew the stories that Syuki had been told by Madarame-taichou so she knew how deadly this walking legend was. 'Yeah, ya attacked him. But he had that little squirt Lu by the scruff and Moon looked terrified. What else were ya supposed ta do? Ya swore ta protect 'em with your life and that's exactly what ya did.'

Both Ten and Syuki looked at the Hollow in surprise. 'What? It ain't my style ta put my neck on the line for others, but an oath's an oath. It don't matter what stands before ya. All ya need's the resolve ta push through it. Win or die trying.'

Ten got a small lop-sided grin at the last comment. 'You've never said truer words'

'Damn straight! We're lucky he didn't try an' take our head off. My regeneration's good but it ain't good enough ta grow a new head. Remember that.'

Syuki got up and looked at the two beings as a unusual calm settled over her. She knew now that she was in for a world of hurt, because even knowing what she was up against, she couldn't take back her actions and Kenpachi was not the sort to pass up a fight. And she'd sworn an oath hadn't she? It didn't matter anyway. Thanks to her hollow's regenerative capabilities, she could be killed but unless her head was cut from her body, she wouldn't stay dead. The great Kenpachi could pound her as much as he liked. At least it would be a good way of getting some intensive training in. She smiled.

So did Ten No Tora and the Hollow. 'Well, this can go one of two ways I suppose. He'll either kick our ass time and again, or we might be able to get him to leave Moon and Lu alone. Don't suppose you'll lend me your Bankai if it gets that bad, Ten?'

'Maybe, depends on how well you do and how long you last without it'

'That's good enough for me. So, shall we go play?' All of their smiles transformed into predatory grins and Syuki's inner world dissolved into nothingness.

**Hope you enjoyed reading. Please feel free to review as I find feedback is the best way to help improve something. Any reviews will help me decide if I should leave it as a one shot or if I could turn it in to a series of some kind.**


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